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Many months ago, it was a toss up between Tessuti’s Mandy and Grainline’s Hemlock. I can’t remember why now, but for some (maybe rational) reason I went with Mandy. However, I think my fabric selection was a subliminal ode to Hemlock now I look at it!

I LOVE this top, and I want to wear it ALL THE TIME!! I have to remember to circulate it 🙂

As much as I LOVE THIS TOP, my sewing machine HATES KNIT FABRIC. Hence the ugly neck stitching.

I constructed Mandy with my overlocker, but had to turn and stitch the neck. It’s icky. I’ve tried everything, wooly nylon, tension changes etc etc etc, my machine hates all the knits. 😦 In fact, it hates the knits so much that a pair of Anita pants I was working on yesterday are puckered all the way down the side seams and the machine struggled to sew five stitches without cracking the sh*ts. Put a woven in though, and the biatch was perfect – groan. I may blog these pants, but for now they’re pretty much relegated to wearing on long haul flights lol.

Because my machine hates all the knits so much I didn’t finish Mandy’s hem or sleeves, I reckon she looks fine though.

Fabric is a Marc Jacobs cotton jersey like thing from The Fabric Store, and it was a bit of a shite to sew with to be honest. Stripes were mismatched and completely off grain – which made for some fun stripe matching smackdowns (otherwise known as easing and forcing and manipulating).

I didn’t self line the hood. Instead I used some pretty pinky cotton from Spotlight. I also bound the hood/neckline seam with the same pretty pinky cotton.

Apart from the stripe matching smackdowns and moments of confusion over the cuffs (see cuff tutorial) this was actually a pretty easy make.

I cut it to the right size and then made it with 1.5cm seam allowances rather than the 1cm allowances as per pattern instructions. Funnily enough, I think I would have been better off sticking with the 1cm allowances (duh!), teamed with the thicker than recommended fabric it’s little bit snug I think. I also took about 4-5cm off the sleeve length.

I would heartily recommend this pattern. I would like to try it out in a merino too I think… Oh yeah, and the packaging is devine!

The one thing that confuzzled me during construction were the cuffs/bands. I was having some serious ‘I don’t get it’ moments when putting these together, so I thought I’d share the details in case anyone else suffers the same moments. The stripes were messing with my head… This method will actually be relevant for any knit cuffs too.

Step 1

Lay your cuff on a flat surface right side up, with the top of the cuff at the top and the bottom at the bottom (i.e. closest to you). Fold in half on the vertical. You’ll then have a fold on the LHS, wrong side up, and the two edges on the RHS. Pin and sew the seam down the RHS using the allowance the pattern asks for. Making sure you match up your stripes too if you dare go to stripetown.

Step 2

Press the seam allowance open.

Step 3

Turn through halfway – with the wrong sides inside. In my case I had to make sure that the halfway point lined up with a stripe. Also, just watch the seam allowances and flatten them out again if they bunch up – avoiding bulk.

Step 4

Pin the open seam and baste in place – again, watching stripes if necessary.

Step 5

Take the cuff and insert it down the sleeve, lining up the raw edges of the cuff with the raw edge of the sleeve. Line everything up and sew the cuff to the sleeve. I basted first to make sure my stripes played nice. Don’t forget to line up your seams and notches. 🙂

And when sewing, make sure you’re only sewing one side and not catching the other also. It’s a bit fiddly, but just take it slow.

Step 6

Overlock (serge) the raw edge. I don’t like the idea of having to unpick overlocking (as detailed in, ‘Renfrew you, Renfrew me‘), so I turn through and check everything is just so (just ‘sew’ lol) before overlocking.

Step 7

Turn through and voila! A very nice looking cuff. A press probably wouldn’t hurt here too.

And that’s it! Is this how you make knit cuffs? It’s probably a bit old hat, but I wanted to get it down in case I suffer from another case of sewers confusion! Hopefully it’s at least helpful for some of you!

On my sewing table

- Colette Sorbetto
- Bombshell dress

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